Harmony Crusaders: Season 1
by RainbowDashFanClub
Summary: Based on the series of pictures by schwarzekatze4 comes a whole new take on MLP. In this AU, the Harmony Crusaders hold the Elements, Little Macintosh is the cutest baby in town and Dinky Do is the pupil of Princess Luna who's first task here is to defeat the Mare on the Sun, Solar Flare. Experience the friendship and the magic in the first season of MLP: HC.
1. Episode 1: Harmony Crusaders (part 1)

"_Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together. To do this, the younger used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the elder brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects; all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies stargazed and partied in the night her elder sister brought forth, but ignored her beautiful day and took it for granted. One fateful day, the younger alicorn refused to lower the sun to make way for the moon. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of unrelenting heat: Solar Flare._

"_She vowed that she would shroud the land in unrelenting sun. Reluctantly, the elder sister used the most powerful weapons known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, banishing her permanently to the sun. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since._" Dinky Do looked up from the book she was reading aloud as she sat in the shade underneath a large tree and sighed. "Elements of Harmony. Hmm… I know I've heard of those before… but where?"

—

Dinky was on her way toward her home/library to ask her assistant, a griffon chick named Ganache, to find a reference on the Elements of Harmony when she came across three ponies. The one in the middle leaned forward; she was a yellow unicorn with a blue mane named Apple Flora. Her cutie mark was an apple with 3 small, pink flowers on the bottom.

"There you are, Dinky!" exclaimed Apple, the two mares beside her – Berry Pinch and Cotton Cloudy – smiled at Dinky as she continued, "Firelock is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

"Oh, sorry girls…" said Dinky, "I've… got a lot of studying to catch up on." Then she galloped off toward her suite, not pausing for any more distractions.

Long after the lilac unicorn was out of earshot, Cotton said with a sigh, "Does that pony do anything except study? I think she's more interested in books than friends." Apple and Berry nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, as Dinky ran up the stairs to her suite, she said to herself, "I know I've heard of the Elements of Harmony." When she arrived she burst through the door, not knowing that she had knocked her assistant clear across the room and that he was lying on the floor as she called his name several times.

"Ow…" Ganache muttered, rubbing his head and rearranging his feathers.

"Ganache!" exclaimed Dinky, "There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of 'Predictions and Prophecies'. What's that for?" She pointed a hoof at a small red box tied with a bright yellow ribbon that was stuck on Ganache's beak.

"Well, it _was_ a gift for Firelock…" said Ganache, using his claws to get the box – which now had a large hole straight through it – off his beak. A stuffed bear fell out of it.

"Oh Ganache," said Dinky, defeated, "You _know_ we don't have time for that!"

As Ganache climbed a ladder to a high shelf, he half-yelled down to Dinky, "But we're on a break!"

Meanwhile, Dinky was levitating several books around and checking the titles as she said aloud, "No, no, no, no, no, no… _Ganache_!"

"It's over here!" exclaimed the griffon, holding in his right claw a dusty old book. Then his ladder toppled over and he fell off, quickly catching himself and hovering to the ground. Then Dinky trotted over to a nearby book-stand, opened her book and flipped through it with her magic.

"Elements… E… E… E… Aha! Elements of Harmony… 'See "Mare on the Sun"'?" Dinky read aloud.

"'Mare on the Sun'?" asked Ganache, "But that's just an old pony's tale."

"Mare, mare… Ah! The Mare on the Sun, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned on the sun. Legend has it that on the longest night of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about summertime eternal!" exclaimed Dinky, "Ganache! Do you know what this means?!"

"Ow… no," Ganache replied, stretching his sore wings.

"Take a note to the Princess, please," said Dinky.

"Okie Dokie."

"My dearest teacher, my continuing studies on pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!"

"Hang on a sec… Preci… Preci…"

"Threshold."

"Threh…"

"Uh… brink? Ugh, that something really bad is going to happen! For you see, the mythical Mare on the Sun is in fact Solar Flare, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal day! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Dinky Do."

"Dinky… Do! Got it!"

"Great! Send it."

"Now?"

"Of course!"

"Uh… I dunno, Dinky. Princess Luna's a little busy getting ready for the Winter Moon Festival. And it's like, the day after tomorrow."

"That's just it, Ganache. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Winter Moon Festival! It's imperative that the Princess be told right away!"

"Imp… Imp…"

"Important!"

"Sheesh! I'm going; I'll be back with her reply. But I wouldn't hold your breath…"

"Oh, I'm not worried, Ganache. The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my mentor she's never once doubted me."

Ganache flew out the window and returned a few short minutes later with a scroll in his claw. He landed and read it aloud, "My dearest, most faithful student Dinky. You know I value your diligence and that I trust you completely."

"Mm-hmm!" exclaimed Dinky, nodding proudly.

"But you must stop reading those dusty old books!"

"_What?!_"

—

"My dear Dinky, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Winter Moon Festival at this year's location: Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: _make some friends!_" Ganache read more of the letter aloud before Dinky heaved a loud sigh, looking irritated while staring at the passing clouds over the edge of the sky chariot as they flew over the snow-covered landscape.

"Look on the bright side, Dinky! The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?"

There was lots of determination in her eyes and her voice as Dinky replied, "Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then go to the library to find some proof of Solar Flare's return."

"Then… when will you make friends, like the Princess said?"

"She said to check on the preparations. I'm her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."

They landed and Dinky jumped out of the chariot, Ganache flitted his wings only a few times and landed beside Dinky, who then leaned over and thanked the two pegasus stallions who'd pulled their chariot. They neighed happily in response, and then took off again.

Then an earth pony with a mane that was two shades of magenta and draped over her left eye in front trotted up to her as Ganache said, "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to say. Come on Dinky, just try!"

The dark orange earth pony stopped in front of them and smiled expectantly, opening her green eyes as wide as they'd go, but she said nothing.

"Um… hello?" said Dinky, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She hadn't started a conversation in years if it wasn't with her mentor, Princess Luna, or with her assistant Ganache.

The earth pony's ears perked up as she said this, she blinked a few times, as if registering something, and then she made an incredibly happy, high-pitched screeching noise. Dinky shoved her hooves over her ears as the mare finished screeching and ran off.

"That was interesting, all right," said Dinky with dripping sarcasm. Ganache sighed, and then he pulled out a scroll, unrolled it and began reading it aloud.

"Winter Moon Festival official overseers checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres!"

As they walked in, a high-pitched voice with an overwhelming western accent was heard. "There! That should do 'er real nice!"

An earth pony with a pale yellow coat and a slightly magenta-tinted red mane tied near the ends with small pink bows dropped a paintbrush onto the ground and looked up at her finished work. There was a pristinely painted and beautifully crafted barn in front of her, it appeared she'd done most- if not all- of it herself. As Dinky approached the mare, she saw that her cutie mark was a paintbrush, covered in green paint, painting an apple in that color.

Dinky sighed and muttered to herself, "Let's get this over with…" before walking up to the mare and saying with traditional and pristine Canterlot manners, "Good afternoon. My name is Dinky do…"

"Well, howdy-do, miss Dinky! Ah'm Apple Bloom! We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do love making new friends!" The mare took Dinky's daintily outstretched hoof and shook it with such force that Dinky's entire body shook.

"F-F-Friends? A-Actually, I-I…"

"So, what can I do ya for?"

Dinky's hoof was still shaking up and down. Ganache put a claw around her hoof and stopped it, snickering.

Dinky recovered quickly though, she cleared her throat and said, "Well, I am in fact here to supervise the preparations for the Winter Moon Festival. And you're in charge of the food?"

"Nah," said Apple Bloom, swinging a hoof slightly sideways, "Ya're looking for mah cousin, Babs. She's probably around here someplace, but Ah can certainly get y'all settled in and sampling some grub!"

They walked over to a nearby gazebo with a table and two chairs and as soon as Dinky and Ganache were seated, Apple Bloom turned around and exclaimed out into the fields, "Babs! We've got visitors!"

The same earth pony they'd encountered in the Town Square ran over, bucked a few trees and then ran over to the gazebo. Not saying a word, she stopped right next to Dinky, only long enough to make a long, exaggerated gasp and run off again.

Suddenly a deep mare's voice was heard through a megaphone: "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"

A crowd of ponies galloped over to the gazebo and crowded around.

"Aw shoot, Babs, ya didn't have to bring the whole family over!" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"I recognize this pony, cuz. I met her this morning in the town square, she's new in town and Ah've been bucking all morning to make sure we've got enough apples to go around!" exclaimed Babs smugly, swinging one foreleg out and crossing it over the other.

"Now, why don't I introduce ya to the Apple family?" said Babs excitedly, "This here's Apple Crumble." A mare with a light green mane and the same coat color as Babs who also shared Babs's eye color pretty closely came over and offered what Dinky assumed to be some kind of apple-related dessert, setting it on the table before rushing off. This routine continued with different kinds of desserts and foods, all apple related, as Babs continued to list off names as Dinky got brief glimpses of ponies.

"Apple Mint." A mare with a mint-colored coat, a mane of two shades of yellow and purple eyes.

"Apple Squash." Another mare with a light orange coat, a forest green mane and dark orange eyes.

"Red June." A mare with a dark red coat, the same mane color as Apple Crumble and dark green eyes.

"Apple Bud." A stallion, slightly older than the other ponies, he had the same coat color as Apple Bloom, a mane of two shades of green and dark purple eyes.

"Liberty Belle." A mare who wore a Stetson hat, her mane was two shades of red, her coat was an even lighter shade of yellow than Apple Bloom's and her eyes were orange.

"Sweet Tooth." A mare with a pink coat, a green mane and green eyes.

"Apple Bytes." A mare with a really dark purple coat and an equally dark blue mane, her eyes were such a dark yellow they looked somewhere between dark yellow-orange and brown.

Babs had said all these names in one breath and so she gasped and pointed her hoof at a few specific ponies as she finished.

"Applejack, Little Macintosh and… Granny Smith."

Applejack was an orange filly with a blonde mane and tail that were tied up with hair ties with apples on them, she had light green eyes and she had no cutie mark, she had a Stetson hat on that was just a bit big on her and she had little white freckles all across her cheeks and a bit between her eyes. Little Macintosh was a baby, still in diapers, with a red coat, green eyes and an orange mane. Granny smith was sitting in her rocking chair and holding Little Mac in her forehooves.

"C'mon over, Granny," said Apple Bloom enthusiastically.  
"Ah'm coming, Ah'm coming…" said Granny, holding Little Mac in one hoof as she walked over. Apple Bloom took Little Mac from her and gently gave him to Applejack to hold.  
"So, ya gonna stay for brunch?" asked Apple Bloom.  
"Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do…" Dinky replied.

The entirety of the Apple family was disappointed at this; adorable little Applejack looked up at her with pleading eyes and asked softly, "Please?"

"…Fine."

"YAY!" chorused all the ponies there.

—

"Food's all taken care of, next is weather," said Ganache as he and Dinky walked through the town.  
"Ugh… I ate too much pie…" Dinky moaned.  
Ganache looked down at the list, then back up into the sky. "Hmm… There's supposed to be a pegasus stallion named Rumble clearing the clouds…"  
"Well, he's not doing a very good job, now is he?"

Suddenly and before Dinky even knew what was going on, she was nearly run over by… well, somepony on a scooter… and she was knocked into a puddle.

"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry about that, I was just so… uh… lost in thought that I didn't see you there. Here, let me help."

The stallion that had just been speaking to her lent Dinky his hoof and helped her up.

"Oh Luna, you're all wet! Let me fix that for you…" the stallion said, proceeding to fly up into the air and fly in circles around her at an incredible speed, it absolutely dried her off but now Dinky's mane was incredibly poofy.

"My gosh, I just can't do anything right today!" he exclaimed again, trotting around her to examine her newly-poofy hair and as he did so Dinky got a glimpse of his cutie mark: a thundercloud with two small lightning bolts coming down from it.

"Let me guess. You're Rumble," said Dinky, irritated at this hairdo that this stallion had just given her, and it didn't help that Ganache was snickering and batting at it.  
"Yes," said Rumble.  
Dinky sighed. "I'm Dinky Do, the Princess sent me to check on the weather."  
"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot! I'll get right on that… just as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing?"  
"On my scooter. I have a… a good friend who… um… I wanted to show… she's really good on the scooter and… her name's Scootaloo, heard of her?"  
"I _heard_ you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear."  
"But she's gonna perform her _awesome_ scooter tricks at the Festival tomorrow! I really want to show her what I've been practicing!"  
"I actually heard of a mare named Scootaloo…" lied Dinky; "She'd never want to watch a pegasus who couldn't keep the sky clear for one measly day!"  
"You're right! Just because she can't fly doesn't mean I have any excuse not to!"

And with that, Rumble took off and began clearing the entire sky with incredible speed.  
"He's good," said Ganache.  
Dinky was just standing there, slack-jawed. What he lacked on a scooter he certainly made up for in flight. And in just about ten seconds the entire sky was clear.

"There we go!" exclaimed Rumble, "Making new friends is always good on the soul, you know! Can't wait to see you some more!" Then he hovered over, picked up his scooter and zoomed off. Meanwhile, Ganache batted Dinky's mane a few more times. Dinky gave him the evil eye and then he said,  
"Hey, it's actually kinda pretty when you get used to it!"

—

"Next up: Music." Ganache said as they entered the Town Hall and heard the most beautiful song. It was in Phrench, so they didn't know what it meant, but whoever was singing this was really good.  
"Beautiful…" Ganache sighed happily.  
"Yes," Dinky replied under her breath, "The music is coming along nicely. This ought 'a be quick. I'll be at the library in no time. Beautiful indeed."  
"Not the music, her!" He pointed a claw at the pony who was very obviously singing the beautiful music. Her pink-and-purple hair curled at the ends and her thick, long eyelashes were closed gently as she sang. Her white coat, brushed perfectly, matched her polished hooves.

Dinky and Ganache walked up toward the stage and looked up.  
"Good afternoon," said Dinky.

The mare stopped singing for a few seconds, enough time to say, "Wait a moment, I'm almost done."  
She finished the last few bars of her song and then said, "That should do it. Why, Sweetie Belle, you are a talent. Now, how may I help yo- AAH! Oh my stars, darling, what happened to your coiffure?!"  
"Oh, you mean my mane? It's a long story. I'm just here to check on the music, then I'll be out of your hair!"  
"MY hair?! What about YOUR hair?!"  
And with that, Sweetie Belle pulled Dinky into a back room where she began trying out all sorts of mane and tail styles. First she made it all curly so that her tail and back mane curled around themselves numerous times and so her forelock draped slightly over her left eye and curled at the end. But to this Sweetie shook her head and brought over her tools and straightened it again with no more out of her mouth than a "Too curly."

Then she made her mane and tail both perfectly straight, like Babs Seed had hers only more so. But to this Sweetie shook her head again and said, "Not curly enough."

After that she made her hair incredibly fluffy with some sort of a bizarre spell, but it was a controlled kind of fluffy this time and a bit of her forelock came out in front of her face and curved up at the end. But Sweetie still didn't think this was 'her', because she shook her head and said, "Too poofy."

And after that the white unicorn that didn't seem satisfied by anything brought over some mane dye products and began dying her mane new colors. "Too green." "Too yellow." Then she used a spell to make Dinky's mane its original color and swept it all back, spraying some sparkly hair spray into her mane. "Too shiny." After a series of spells Dinky's mane was back to its original state, then Sweetie brought over a curling iron and made Dinky's mane slightly wavy.

As she did so, she said to Dinky, "So go on. Tell me where you're from."  
After she finished curling it, Sweetie pulled on Dinky's mane a bit with her magic to make it wavy but not curly. And so in-between groaning for the pain that comes with having your hair magically yanked several times, Dinky said, "I've… been sent… from Canterlot… to…"

"Canterlot?!" exclaimed Sweetie ecstatically, "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it!"

She pulled Dinky into a close hug, squeezing her eyes tight shut in happiness. When she opened her eyes and looked down on Dinky's mane, she said, "_Sparkles?!_ What _was_ I thinking? Let me get you some hair clips!" Dinky quickly imitated the spell that reverted her hair to normal, casting it on herself, then she grabbed the love-struck griffon Ganache and galloped out, exclaiming,  
"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!"

—

As they walked toward their next destination and Ganache rode on Dinky's back, he said,  
"Wasn't she wonderful?"  
"Focus, Casanova. What's next on our list?"  
Ganache cleared his throat and said, "Oh! Uh… Performance, this is that Scootaloo mare that Rumble was so in love with."  
"Heh, yeah, he was blushing the entire time he was talking about her."

They walked through the last of the brush and came upon a large area of dirt, it looked like a carriage parking lot for the exception that there was a mare on a scooter zipping around it and doing loads of impressive tricks, ninety-nine percent of which Dinky didn't know the name of. The mare zipped over and skidded to a stop, hopping off her scooter and looking at Dinky though she didn't say a word.

The mare had a coat that was a darker orange than Applejack's but not as dark as Babs's. The mare's mane was lavender and brushed up in front, her hair was uneven in several places and she wore three black earrings, all studs, two horizontal bar-shaped ones and below those a star-shaped one. The pegasus's wings were unusually small for a fully-grown mare like her, but she didn't seem to need them. Her cutie mark was a scooter of the same design as the scooter she was riding on.

"Hello!" exclaimed Dinky, attempting to make conversation. The mare's expression of boredom didn't shift as she lifted a hoof and waved a single time nonchalantly before putting it right back where it was, kicking up some dirt as she did so.  
"I'm here to check on the presentation for the Winter Moon Festival, it's beautiful!"  
"Mm."  
"What's your name?"  
Only opening one corner of her mouth, the mare said under her breath, "Scootaloo."  
Dinky didn't hear this and asked the mare to repeat herself. In the same manner as the first time the mare did so. Dinky still didn't hear and asked the mare to repeat it again. This time the mare said nothing and simply rolled her purple eyes.

"O-Kay then!" Dinky replied, trotting over and saying to Ganache, "That was easy." But as soon as Ganache walked out of the bushes, the mare hopped on her scooter and zipped over, fast as lightning.  
"Hey! You never told me you were friends with a griffon!" exclaimed the mare, much more talkative now.  
"Um… yes, this is my assistant Ganache."  
"Ganache, eh? Cool name, bro! Nice meeting you!"  
"You too! I assume you're Scootaloo?" Ganache replied and shook Scootaloo's outstretched hoof.  
"The one and only! Hey, tell me where you're from. I only met one griffon before in my life, she was the best scooter rider I've ever met! Well, next to me of course."  
"What do you want to know?"  
"Everything! Why any less?"

When they arrived at the library, Scootaloo was still on her scooter behind them, going at a reasonably slow pace to not mow them down. Ganache finished his tale, "And that's the story of my whole entire life! Well, up until today. Do you want to hear about today?"  
"Yeah, of course! I bet it'll be just as cool… if not cooler! By at least 20 percent!"  
But Dinky interrupted, "Oh, I am so sorry. How did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while I'm in Ponyville, and my poor griffon chick needs his sleep."  
"No I don't…" Ganache started before Dinky shifted her weight violently to one side, knocking him off her back and he exclaimed, "Whoa!"  
Then in the kind of voice you use while talking to a baby, Dinky said, "Aw, wook at dat. He's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"  
"Oh! Then we should get him to bed, lickety-split!" exclaimed Scootaloo, taking Ganache and placing him gently on her back and hopping on her scooter, about to propel herself into the library when Dinky stopped Scootaloo with her magic and levitated Ganache back over to her.  
"Yes, yes, I'll do that. G' night!"

They walked a few steps into the pitch dark library when Ganache said, "Huh. Rude, much?"  
"I'm sorry, Ganache, but I have to convince the Princess that Solar Flare is coming, and we're running out of time! Now, where's the light?"  
Right then the light flicked on and a huge crowd of ponies were standing in the library, and all at once they all yelled "SURPRISE!" Dinky groaned. Partying was hardly her strong suit.

"HIII!" exclaimed Babs, "I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh?"  
"Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet. And aren't you supposed to be at Sweet Apple Acres?"  
"Everything's done over there so I threw you a really quick 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all like 'hello' and I was all like 'EEEEEEEE!' remember? Y' see, I'd never seen you before, and if I'd never seen you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean _everypony_ in Ponyville!"  
Dinky groaned and thought, "When is this pony going to stop babbling?" She walked over and grabbed a bottle in her mouth, pouring herself a drink. The liquid was red – she wondered if it was some kind of weird punch. She wouldn't even be surprised if it was.

Babs continued to monologue: "And if you're new, that means you haven't met anypony yet, and if you haven't met anypony yet, that means you must not have any friends and that made me so sad, then I had the bestest idea in the entire world and that's why I went EEEEEEEE! I thought, 'I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everypony in Ponyville!'" Dinky levitated up her cup and took a nonchalant sip.

"Something is definitely… wrong with this… punch…" thought Dinky.  
Her mouth felt like it was on fire. Her face felt like somepony could've cooked eggs on her cheeks and bacon on her forehead if she'd simply looked up for long enough. She turned around, slight bits of tears leaking out of her eyes. Smoke was literally coming out of her ears and the only noise she could make was a high-pitched scream of pain that sounded like some sort of train whistle.

However, seemingly oblivious to Dinky's pain, Babs said, "Aw, look! She's so happy she's crying!"  
This hardly helped Dinky's predicament, if anything it made it worse. Dinky couldn't bear it anymore – if these ponies wouldn't help her she'd just have to help herself, or maybe she could get Ganache to help (she was unaware that he was still downstairs). As such she ran upstairs in a blur.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo walked over just in time to see Ganache turn the bottle over.  
"Hm. 'Hot sauce'." Ganache read the label. Then Scootaloo took the bottle in her mouth and drank some, straight up.  
"What? It's good!"

After Dinky had long since washed the hot sauce down with about four or five glasses of water, though there was still a residual numbness on her tongue, she lay upstairs in her bed. The sun was still just starting to set but it felt like it would take forever to do so. Dinky groaned. She heard the disco music from the party going on downstairs, though it was muffled slightly it was still keeping her up. Then Ganache walked in with a pink lampshade on his head and a stumble every few steps as he walked. They probably had some kind of alcoholic punch downstairs and he'd probably been drinking it, but as much as Dinky would've wanted to scold him for this, she was too darn tired.

"Hey Dinky! Babs is starting 'Pin the Tail on the Pony!' Wanna come?" asked Ganache.  
"NO! All the ponies in this town are CRAZY! Do you even know what time it is?!" The answer was that it was far past Ganache's bedtime; as such Dinky gave him an icy glare.  
"Everypony has to stay up, griffons count in that too! Otherwise they'd miss the Princess raising the moon! You should really liven up, Dinky. It's a party!" And with that, Ganache shut the door again and stumbled back down the stairs to play whatever pathetic game they were playing down there.

"Ugh, here I thought that I would have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony!"  
Pause.  
"Silly me, because all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!"  
Another, much longer pause.  
Dinky quoted the legend: "_Legend has it that on the longest night of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about summertime eternal._"  
Then she muttered to herself as she looked up at the sun, the colors of the sunset just beginning to show through the relentlessly blue sky. She could just make out the shape of an alicorn created of what looked like a series of sunspots on its surface. "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old pony's tale."  
Then Ganache burst through the door, this time without his lampshade and with slightly less of a stumble in his step. "C'mon, Dinky! It's time to watch the moon rise!"

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited 'cause I'm excited I've never been so excited- well, except for the time I saw you walking into town and I went EEEEEEEEE! But really, who can top that?" Babs babbled. Dinky was starting to think they should rename her "Babbles Seed".  
Then the mayor, a gray earth pony with a silvery mane came up and announced, "Fillies and gentlecolts! As Mayor of Ponyville, I, Silver Spoon, am proud to announce the beginning of the Winter Moon Festival!"  
Everypony applauded and cheered, Mayor Silver Spoon paused before continuing.  
"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the moon rise, and celebrate this the longest night of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who brings us the moon and the sun each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony…"

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat, ready to sing as soon as Rumble, who'd been up there the whole time, pulled back the curtain.  
"Princess Luna!" exclaimed the Mayor. Rumble drew the curtain and Sweetie began to sing, she only got as far as the first few notes before Rumble said, "Huh?"  
Everypony was nervously chattering. Where could the Princess be? It was completely like her to appear randomly, but not so much to disappear in the same way. Especially at a time like this.

Dinky muttered to herself, "This can't be good."  
"Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" exclaimed the Mayor, clearly trying her best to hide her own panic.  
"I love guessing games!" exclaimed Babs, "Is she hiding?" Meanwhile, Rumble had been flying around as fast as he could backstage, trying to find Princess Luna. She's not exactly hard to find with her blue coat and flowing mane that resembled the night sky as well as her regal stature and slightly glowing, metallic blue crown, necklace and slippers, and so when Rumble couldn't find her he whispered that to Sweetie who shouted out to the crowd in a drama-queen sort of way, "She's GONE!"

"She's good," commented Babs as everypony around her gasped in shock.  
Then a cloud of red smoke appeared before them and a pony revealed herself from behind the red smoke which rapidly dissipated afterward. Everypony gasped again. The mare was intimidating – she had the same stature and relative build as Princess Luna yet her eyes were like dragons' eyes, her irises a deep shade of violet. Her coat was dark red-orange and her mane was like fire, Dinky wouldn't be surprised if it was hot to the touch as well. She wore bright orange armor that matched her mane, her necklace had a symbol of a sun on it, the same sun as was surrounded by a dark maroon splotch on her flank. The alicorn mare flapped her devilish wings a few times as her brow was furrowed into a scowl, but then she smiled.

"Oh no…" muttered Dinky, "Solar Flare."  
"My beloved subjects," said Solar Flare in a tone that said she was on top of everything, "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, moon-loving faces."  
"What did you do with our Princess?!" exclaimed Scootaloo, shooting daggers out of her eyes at Solar Flare as she scrunched up her nostrils and pulled her lips upward to reveal all her teeth in a vexed scowl. She was ready to gallop up the stairs to that platform and strangle this imposter with her bare hooves.  
Yet Apple Bloom stopped her, grabbing her tail in her mouth and saying through her teeth, "Whoa there, Nelly."

Solar Flare chuckled evilly and said, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"  
"Ooh! More guessing games!" exclaimed Babs, seemingly unable to take a hint, "Um… Hokey Smokes! How about… Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!" Before she could embarrass herself any further, Apple Bloom shoved an apple from a nearby bowl into Babs's open mouth, though the pony continued to mumble excited noises.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"  
"I did," interrupted Dinky, sounding much more confident than she was, "You're the Mare on the Sun – Solar Flare."  
Everypony gasped at the sheer mention of the name. Several had probably heard the name before, most grimaced at how menacing that name sounded and how this mare was probably right.  
"Well, well, well, somepony that remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."  
Though Dinky knew the answer she was unable to say it given how bad it was and how unprepared everypony – including her – was. "You're here to… to…" She swallowed her unsaid words with an audible gulp.

"Remember last night, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the day. Will last. FOREVER!" As she laughed maniacally, Solar Flare's fiery mane swirled up around her like a flaming tornado. Everypony was aghast, and Dinky was too stunned to say anything more.

[**To be continued…**]


	2. Episode 1: Harmony Crusaders (part 2)

The first pony to take action was Mayor Silver Spoon.  
She exclaimed to the guards, four of the strongest pegasus ponies in all of Equestria that had been personally selected by Princess Luna, "Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!"  
The guards flew up toward Solar Flare at incredible speed, yet with a single flip of her – somehow sentient – mane and the words,  
"Stand back, you foals!" they were all thrown back and knocked against the wall, unconscious, now all with burn marks across their chests where Solar Flare's mane had hit them.

Solar cackled right before transforming into a plume of red smoke, zipping out the open doors. Scootaloo hopped onto her scooter and zipped after the red smoke, though it was too fast.  
As she braked, she panted and thought to herself, "Daytime? Forever?" Then she looked back and saw Dinky galloping toward the library with Ganache on her back.  
"Where's she going?" Scootaloo asked herself as she wheeled her scooter around and followed Dinky.

"Uh… We've gotta stop Solar!" exclaimed a very sleepy Ganache before falling asleep completely.  
"You've been up all night, Ganache. You are a griffon _chick_, after all." Dinky spun around and looked all over for a book on the Elements of Harmony.  
"Elements, Elements... Ugh! How can I stop Solar Flare without the Elements of Harmony?" Scootaloo burst through her door and exclaimed, apparently having overheard Dinky talking to herself from outside, "And just what _are_ the Elements of Harmony? And how did _you_ know about Solar Flare, huh? Are you a _spy?!_"

Apparently having followed Scootaloo, Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo by the tail and yanked her away from being in Dinky's face.  
"Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure does know what's goin' on…" Apple Bloom said, "Don't you, Dinky?"  
Dinky sighed and replied, "I read all about the prediction of Solar Flare's return. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them… I don't even know what they _do!_"

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Babs read off the spine of a book on a nearby low shelf.  
"How did you find that?!" exclaimed Dinky as she quickly levitated the book over.  
In a sing-song voice Babs replied, "It was under E!"  
"Oh." Dinky sighed, then she opened the book and read and walked at the same time, "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last known location of the Elements of Harmony is the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It is located in what is now… the Everfree Forest."

She looked up, and by some weird coincidence she was at the entrance, and all the other ponies had followed her.  
"Whee! Let's go!" exclaimed Babs.  
"Not so fast," said Dinky, "Look, I really appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own." She didn't need any more ponies dragging her down, especially the very same ones who'd been trying to make _friends_ with her the whole time.  
"No can do, Sugarcube," said Apple, "We sure ain't letting any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple!"  
"Ooh! There are candy apples in there?! Double whee! Let's double go!" exclaimed Babs. Dinky sighed and followed the rest of the group in.

As they walked, the sun remained high in the sky and refused to set, the unrelenting heat began to take its toll on them as the forest's thin canopy did nothing to stop the heat but everything to cast odd-looking shadows among the trees, making everypony but Scootaloo nervous.  
"So," said Dinky, "None of you have been in here before?"  
"Goodness no," said Sweetie, looking around warily, "Just look at it – it's dreadful!" Sweetie Belle was right, too, there were weeds of all sorts that even Babs, their resident gardener, couldn't name. The group was constantly avoiding the puddles of murky or muddy water that covered the pathway they followed as well as everyplace else in this forest. Dinky didn't know this, but this forest was notorious for holding numerous fearsome creatures.

Looking around at the blue flowers growing in large patches all around, Babs said, "And it's not natural."  
"Yeah," said Apple, "Folk say it don't work the same as Equestria."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Dinky, the forest starting to get on her nerves more than it should.  
"Nopony knows," said Scootaloo in the same tone you'd tell a ghost story in, "You know why?"  
Sounding more creeped out than annoyed, Apple said, "Q- Q- Quit it, S-Scootaloo."  
But Scootaloo continued as if she'd never even heard her fillyhood friend, "Because every pony who's ever come in… has never… come… _out!_"

Suddenly the ledge they were standing on gave way and they skidded down a mountain, Babs was screaming, but it was the kind of screaming you'd hear from a roller coaster ride, not a bunch of ponies that were skidding down a steep cliff. Sweetie Belle was screaming as well, but this time it was too much for somepony skidding down a steep cliff. How is this possible, you ask? I have no idea. Dinky, Rumble and Apple were all appropriately freaked out. And Scootaloo? She was a mare with a plan.

She was originally sliding rapidly toward the ledge just as fast as everypony else, though the fact that she wasn't scared of her approaching death allowed her to think logically. In only a few milliseconds she had a plan. She tossed her scooter off the side of the rock, it landed sideways and stopped only a few feet away. Now that her most prized possession was safe, the flightless yet fearless pegasus took action. First she jumped as far as she could in front of the rock, instantly shoving her forehooves into the ground and taking a bucking position, her wings extended for balance. Instants later the rock crashed into Scootaloo's prepared back hooves and it slowed an awful lot awfully fast yet it was still going quite quickly. This abrupt slowing caused the rest of the ponies to be flung off the back and they quickly stopped going. Yet Scootaloo was still going to be flung off the cliff, then be crushed by a huge rock if she didn't do something, and fast. The orange pegasus continued to dig her forehooves as far as she could into the ground in an effort to stop the gigantic mass of dirt and stone. She merely succeeded in slowing it down and as the edge of the cliff approached she simply sighed. At the very least her friends were safe, so as the flightless mare fell she smiled.

As soon as Rumble became conscious again he saw Scootaloo fall off the cliff with that huge rock following her down. Knowing full well that the thing was big enough to squish his love like a bug, he rapidly took off and zipped over the edge of the cliff after her. This cliff was much higher than he'd expected, which gave him some time, maybe a few extra seconds, max. He only had that much time to save her. As he got closer, Rumble noticed that Scootaloo was smiling as she fell to her death. Why was she smiling? He didn't concern himself with that question as he continued to get closer, gravity helping him out a bit as he flew straight down.

As soon as he was in reach he grabbed Scootaloo, catching her and holding her in his hooves as he rapidly changed his course, nearly hitting the ground before changing his course and rocketing back up to the top of the cliff, where the other ponies were. He hovered, the mare opened her eyes and looked up at him, looking vaguely bewildered and slightly amazed though a hint of red found its way onto her cheeks. Looking thoroughly relieved the rest of the group chattered a load of "You had us so scared!" and "Are you okay?" sort of things to Scootaloo.  
As she looked up at Rumble once more he looked down asked gently, "You okay?" And so she leaned up and gave him the most heartfelt kiss she'd ever given anypony.

After they broke the kiss Rumble landed and gently set Scootaloo down. Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo her scooter, she hopped on and Rumble asked her, "Why'd you…"  
"Relax, big boy. You saved my life and I wanted to repay the favor." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, winked and scootered off down a curvy path that led a long way down to the bottom of the cliff. The rest followed behind her.

As they walked Babs continued to babble. She talked about all the stuff that had happened and nopony stopped her for quite a while.  
"And then I woke up and Rumble dashed off the edge of that cliff up there and then I remembered how Scootaloo had been trying to stop that boulder and I figured out that he'd gone to stop her from falling so I cheered and I cheered! Did you hear me, Rumble?"  
"I did, Babs," said Rumble.  
"He was there," Scootaloo added.  
"This is all fine and dandy, but we have to…" started Dinky before she was cut off by a loud roar.  
"A manticore!" exclaimed Rumble.  
"We've got to get past it!" exclaimed Dinky.

Babs seemed two hooves ahead of her because she was already up in front of the manticore, she bucked him in the face as hard as she could with the words "Take that!" Though it did send him back a few feet he barely budged and thwacked her away with his paw. "Wait."  
Then Apple jumped up on the manticore's back and exclaimed, "Get along, little doggie!" She grabbed his mane and rode the angry manticore like a cowpony riding a bull. However, Apple didn't do very well, and as she sailed through the air she said in a mildly irritated voice to Rumble,  
"All yours, pardner." To this Rumble replied,  
"On it!"  
"Wait."

He did the same thing he'd done for Dinky when he was attempting to dry her off, though he was slowly circling in and hoping to do a sort of hit-and-fly tactic. However, before he got particularly close, the manticore whacked him away with his scorpion's tail and he went sailing towards the rest of the group, landing at their hooves.  
Sounding uncharacteristically worried, Scootaloo exclaimed, "Rumble!" Then she snorted, hopped on her scooter and her wings made a motor-like noise as she flapped them quickly, she was zipping toward the manticore with the rest of the group charging behind her when Sweetie Belle jumped out in front of them and screamed, "WAIT!"

The white unicorn turned and smiled at the manticore, she walked up scarily close to the manticore. It swatted at her but missed, then she started… singing?  
Softly Dinky muttered, "Tell me she's not."  
A few notes later Babs replied, "She is, and it's working too!"  
They all watched as the sleepy manticore was led gently back to its cave by Sweetie, who finished her song and then walked back to the group and said,  
"He was just cranky. The poor little baby was woken up by that boulder crashing down and he couldn't get back to sleep. Don't worry, its fine now. Nopony shout, though."

"Ugh, my eyes need a rest from all this icky muck," said Sweetie. It quickly got pitch black as the canopy got thicker over the area they walked in and she said, "I didn't mean that literally."  
"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it!" exclaimed Dinky.  
Sweetie ran into Rumble and she said, "I didn't see you there, my apologies."  
"Right here… guh…"  
They walked further and only a few bits of light poked through the canopy, the shadows of the six ponies making twisted shadows on the trees. And it seemed the trees were watching them. They walked in this eerie state for only about thirty seconds before Apple said,  
"Ah think Ah stepped in something." Then Sweetie Belle screamed.  
"It's just mud," said Apple, wiping off her hoof, then she looked up and jumped back. She was quite sure she wasn't imagining it: the trees had faces, and creepy ones at that. They were trapped inside a circle of creepy grins as their shadows morphed into shapes of monsters of all sorts. Everypony backed into a circle of terror, though Scootaloo had on her most intimidating scowl it didn't work on the monsters. Everypony was growing so paranoid that as soon as one of them moved, all of them shrieked.

Yet Babs was sitting near one of the trees as she exclaimed particularly loudly,  
"And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!'" She laughed. Her voice reappeared a few moments later after there was a blast of pink from the tree she was sitting at, and it looked normal again. She said as she sat at a new tree,  
"And so the whale stood up and said, 'Fifty bucks? Do I look like I have a hole in my head?!'" Babs laughed at her own joke. Two more pink explosions.  
"Babs?!" exclaimed Dinky, "What are you doing?! RUN!"  
"Oh girls," said Babs, "See, when I was a little filly, I used to be scared of shadows and monsters under my bed. I was staying at Sweet Apple Acres for the summer and I got so scared I ran up the hall to ask Granny Smith if I could sleep in her room. But then she said, 'That's not the way to deal with fears, young'n. Here, try this trick my granny told me when ah was a little filly like ya. Laugh at the monsters, they'll go away. Even smiling does the trick.'"

"So?" asked Scootaloo, raising an eyebrow.  
"So, giggle at the ghostly!"  
In reply Scootaloo walked over to a nearby tree, looking at how odd that grin actually was she couldn't help but giggle a little. And so the grin and the face on the tree disappeared in a cloud of pink. She looked over at Babs, who as she smiled made a little 'squee!' noise.  
"They are kinda funny," said Apple, laughing. The entire scene became visibly brighter as all the six laughed at the- not creepy anymore but funny- faces.

They continued to laugh as they skipped away from the clearing, having found an opening. The path got lighter and the trees stopped completely, the daylight showing through as they came to a river. Babs, who was in front, stopped, all the other ponies stopped right after her.  
"How are we gonna cross this?!" exclaimed Babs. Then a wailing sound was heard. There was a merpony, half perched on a rock, half thrashing her long, green, scaly tail into the river. In a high, beautiful (not as much as Sweetie's, but still) soprano voice the merpony exclaimed, "Woe is me, OH, woe is me!" Then she started sobbing again.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Dinky, "Why are you crying?"  
"Well, I don't know! I was just sitting here on my rock, minding my own business, when this tacky cloud of red smoke just… whooshed past me, and it tore most of my beloved mane clean off! And now… I look hideous!" exclaimed the merpony, breaking into sobs again. Her blonde mane was cut short very abruptly, though there was a certain continuity to it that actually made it look kind of good.  
"I don't know what she's crying about," muttered Sweetie Belle to the pony right beside her (that just happened to be Rumble), "That mane style is in these days! I just can't bring myself to part with my curls, they suit me, don't you think?" Rumble nodded wistfully, lost in thought for real this time.  
"Hey Sweetie," muttered Rumble in reply, "Do sliver horseshoes look good with that mane style?"  
"They are in as well these days, if that's what you are asking."  
"Thanks." And with that Rumble began to walk toward the serpent. He said, "Ma'am? I think I have something for you."

The merpony stopped sobbing and swam over, perching herself on a rock near the shore.  
She sniffed and wiped her eyes with a forehoof. "What is it?"  
"I hear from a reasonably reliable source that the hairstyle you have now is actually in style these days," he said reasonably loudly, both over the rushing water and so Sweetie could hear him, he winked at her and then said to the merpony, "I have a pair of fine silver horseshoes that would go perfectly with that mane style. Those are in as well, by the way. All the ponies in Canterlot are wearing them. I hope you can make use of them."

With that Rumble flew over and took the brand-new-looking silver horseshoes off his forehooves and gave them to the mare.  
"Oh, they're perfect!" exclaimed the mare, "Thank you!"  
"They're my lucky pair too," said Rumble, "Hope they bring you some good luck."  
"And they look great too!" exclaimed Sweetie, walking up beside Rumble.  
"Hey look!" exclaimed Babs, "We can cross now!" She began to wade into the shallow water.  
"This river is mine, I control it," said the merpony, "As such…" She performed an intricate series of motions with her hooves and a bunch of stones appeared for them to cross on. "Allow me!"

—

Through the intense glare of the sun, Scootaloo made out a large castle. It had to be! She hopped on her scooter and exclaimed to the rest as she went, "There it is! We made it!"  
She flapped her wings and propelled herself forward, though when she reached the edge of a cliff she exclaimed, "Whoa!" Luckily, Rumble pulled her back by the tail and joked,  
"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"  
Scootaloo got up, dusted herself off and shrugged, giggling.  
Apple looked, she could see the other side yet she knew Rumble couldn't carry ponies across, there was obviously a bridge there before but she swore she saw a cloud of red smoke whisk past before and cut the bridge down. Furthermore, it was way too wide for Scootaloo to jump it on her scooter, let alone for anypony to jump. Then she looked around. Trees and loads of them. She got an idea.

Apple whispered her idea to Rumble. No sense in making a fool of herself if her idea was terrible.  
However, Rumble replied, "Great idea!"  
"Okay, can you help?"  
"Sure."  
"Kay, on 3." They walked over to a nearby tree that had obviously been dead for a while and had one side that was pretty much flat and they both counted down at the same time,  
"1… 2… 3!" They both bucked the tree at the same time, dislodging the tree's roots just a little. Meanwhile the rest simply watched, slightly confused.  
"Again!" exclaimed Apple, but to her surprise the tree all but crashed over entirely that time. Then she looked to her other side. Babs had helped that second time.  
"Heh, thanks Babs."  
"Don't mention it, cuz. Need some help getting it in place?" Rumble lifted it, if only a little, off the ground by himself. After Apple and Babs took the other end, they managed to get the log in place. It was too thin to cross the gorge on, though. It also wasn't nearly stable enough.

"What do we do now?" asked Rumble, confused.  
"We buck down another tree of the same size, then you go pull down some vines to tie them together, Rumble," Apple replied. And with that she walked over to another feasible tree, again it was dead but still firmly rooted in the ground. All three ponies bucked the tree, it was nearly over, then Rumble bucked it once more and it toppled, falling into the brush below. They picked it up and placed it beside the first one, the flat sides on top close to touching. At each end Rumble wrapped vines around them tying the knots tightly as he could.  
"That should do," said Apple, dusting off her hooves, "Rumble, ya can fly, go ahead and test it."  
"My pleasure," Rumble replied, his wings extended cautiously as he walked onto the bridge. Though pegasi are notoriously lightweight, Apple was now confident that the bridge was stable.

The others, though, were skeptical. Especially Dinky, who'd never seen Apple's hoofwork before. Apple was usually dependable but this was kinda makeshift. Nopony would've been surprised if it gave. Rumble jumped up and down on the bridge, then walked back over, confirming that it was good. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.  
"I dunno," she said, "Looks pretty rickety to me."  
"Yeah. You can't fly, can you Scootaloo?" said Dinky.  
Scootaloo winced as if in pain and said in irritation, "Yes. Agreed. Fine. Whatever. Now can you ponies stop mentioning it?!"  
"Dinky, you should know better, being from Canterlot and all," said Sweetie, "Making fun of a pony's disability is not kind at all."  
"But I wasn't…"  
"No buts," Sweetie replied defiantly as if she was Dinky's mother.

"Okay, I'm sorry," said Dinky, "I still don't think this bridge is good enough."  
"I know a surefire way to test it," said Scootaloo, "Oh, and I accept the apology. Just don't ever do that again."  
Changing the subject, Dinky said, "What's the surefire way?"  
"Hey AB! You think the bridge is sturdy?"  
"Ah reckon it is."  
"Kay then. Good enough for me." And with that, Scootaloo hopped on her scooter and zipped across the bridge. After her the rest walked across as well.

"Why do you all trust Apple so implicitly?" asked Dinky to Scootaloo when they were on the other side.  
"AB and I have been friends since… well, since forever. In all the time I've known her she's never lied. She's dependable, but above that, she's honest."

—

They entered the ruin and immediately saw, perched high on a stand that was covered in vines, 5 large stone spheres with different gem-like shapes carved into them. As Rumble took each one down, Dinky said, "Careful, careful!"  
As Rumble took them down, however, Babs counted them and said, "One, two, three, four… there's only five!"  
"Where's the sixth?" asked Scootaloo.  
"The book said, 'When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.'" Dinky replied.  
"What in the hay is that supposed 'ta mean?" asked Apple.  
"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Everypony stand back."  
"Come on now, y'all." And with that Apple Bloom ushered the rest out of the room. If Dinky doesn't know what's going to happen, it cannot be known.

Meanwhile, Dinky Do powered up the spell, closing her eyes in concentration. Slowly, an electric charge lit the connection between two of the stones, then three, four, then all five as it surrounded the stones completely. The magic that Dinky was holding began to fray at the edges, she was doing everything right but the spell just… didn't seem to want to work somehow. She was close to finishing her spell when she opened her eyes again and saw the stones being swept up in a tornado of red smoke. A short scream escaped her lips as she fell over backwards, toppling down the four steps that were immediately behind her.  
"The Elements!" exclaimed Dinky, jumping into the tornado just as they were disappearing. The rest came in just in time to see her vanish with the Elements and spent the next few minutes looking for her before Rumble exclaimed, "Look!" and pointed up into the highest room in a nearby spire, where there was a flash of light.

Right after Dinky was teleported she was thrown backwards a good ways. When she got on all fours again she looked up to see Solar Flare standing there. She gasped. Then she made a simple "Hmph." She powered up a spell and stamped on the ground with a hoof, kicking up some of the dust on the floor.  
"You're kidding, right?" said Solar, raising an eyebrow. In response Dinky simply snorted.  
"You're kidding."  
Dinky charged toward Solar. Solar charged forward as well. They nearly rammed into each other before Dinky's spell finished and she teleported across the room. Solar skidded to a stop.

"Just one spark… come on…" Dinky said to herself as she powered up her spell again. Normally, a spell like this would be easy, but there was something about this place that was making it very hard. In a plume of red smoke Solar appeared, the spell knocked Dinky back once more though this time she got the chance to complete it. The stones stayed charged, seemingly exchanging signals for a few seconds, and during this Solar looked down, shocked. "No. No!"  
But then they stopped.

"Huh?! But… but… where's the sixth Element?"  
Solar laughed evilly as she picked up her forelegs high into the air, then brought them down with such force that the stones shattered right along with all the hope that Dinky had.  
"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me?! Now you will never see your Princess, or your moon. The day. Will last. FOREVER!"

Then Dinky's ears perked up as she turned her head around. There she saw the shadows of her friends, they were galloping up the staircase like valiant knights to her rescue. She heard their voices, all saying encouraging things. "Don't worry, we're coming Dinky!" exclaimed Babs. "Don't worry, we'll be there!" exclaimed Apple. "We're coming for ya Dinky!" exclaimed Scootaloo. Then, somewhere inside her, something clicked. She came to the most stunning realization she'd had in her entire life, and right then and there, a spark ignited inside of her.

Dinky turned and looked straight at Solar Flare. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong." She was filled with renewed hope and determination as she said, "Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right…" she didn't pause long as she heard the hoofsteps next to her, "Here!"

"What?!" Solar exclaimed.  
"Scootaloo, who chose to save her friends at the sacrifice of herself, represents the spirit of… Loyalty!" Dinky exclaimed as several of the shards stirred, they glowed a reddish hue as they circled Scootaloo.  
"Sweetie Belle, who lulled an unhappy manticore to sleep with her singing, represents the spirit of… Kindness!"  
More shards glowed of a pink hue as they circled around Sweetie.  
"Babs Seed, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of… Laughter!"  
Several more glowed an orange color as they circled Babs, she jumped up and down happily.  
"Rumble, who helped a morose merpony with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of… Generosity!"  
Some more began to glow with a grayish light and circled Rumble.  
"And Apple Bloom, whose clear-headedness and straight honesty reassured everypony when they were in doubt, represents the spirit of… Honesty!"  
Shards glowed a light shade of yellow and circled Apple.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!"  
"But you still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"  
"But it did! A different kind of spark." Taking to her friends now, Dinky said, "I felt it the moment I realized how happy I was to hear you… how much I cared about you!" She then turned and talked to Solar again, "You see, Solar Flare, when those Elements are ignited by the… the spark, that resides in the hearts of us all, it creates the sixth Element: the Element of… Magic!"

Dinky squinted as a bright light appeared above her head, from this light another full sphere appeared above them, into its light gray stone surface a four-pointed star, just like one of the four on Dinky's flank, was carved. She smiled, surrounded by her newfound friends. And just as Dinky spoke the word "Magic", she squinted as the sphere… the Element above her began to glow brightly, her friends all squinted as well as they began to float above the ground. The shards around them each circled around the ponies faster and tighter until each looked up into the sky and the shards found themselves a place on each of their chests. The Element of Magic floated down toward Dinky and transformed into a large golden crown with that four-pointed star on the top in a lilac color, just like her coat.

Only the ponies' silhouettes were seen by Solar Flare as a burst of white light nearly blinded her. She shielded her eyes with her wing, though even this didn't work and she simply watched in horror as a huge rainbow spiraled upwards, creating one huge rainbow blast which created a spiraling tornado around her. Solar's screams for mercy were drowned out by the overwhelming sound of magic. Then Dinky's vision whited out and so did the entire room. When her vision returned, she saw everypony sprawled on the floor.

"Ugh… my head…" said Scootaloo.  
"Is everypony okay?" asked Apple. She got various affirmative replies.  
"Hey Rumble!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "Nice!"  
"I know!" He held out a hoof to let her get a closer look at his lucky horseshoes, they reappeared somehow.  
"No…" said Scootaloo, rolling her eyes, "Your necklace! Looks like your cutie mark!" Rumble frowned for a moment, then he smiled, comparing the two. His necklace was light gray lightning bolt, resembling the lightning bolts from his cutie mark. Then he realized something else.  
"So does yours!" He was right as well, matching the wheel on the scooter that was her cutie mark as well as the scooter she had in reality, cut out of some sort of gemstone there was the red charm surrounded by gold on her necklace.  
"Aw, yeah!" Scootaloo looked down at her necklace and puffed out her chest proudly.

"Look at mine!" exclaimed Babs, leaping over to demonstrate her necklace, shaped just like the seed in her cutie mark.  
"Dinky," said Sweetie after she looked at her friend, looking up at her crown, "I originally thought you were… overstating a bit… however you have proven that you were correct!"  
"It seems we really do represent the Elements of Harmony," Apple added.  
"Indeed you do," said a kind, almost motherly voice, the moon rose and out of the brilliant light that it shone through the window appeared a regal figure. Everypony bowed… excepting Dinky. She gasped, ran over and hugged her mentor.  
"Princess Luna!"  
"Dinky Do, my most faithful student. I knew you could do it."  
"But… you told me it was all an old pony's tale. I don't understand."

"I told you to make some friends. I saw the signs of Solar Flare's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now only if another will as well. Princess Celestia!"  
The smaller alicorn who was laying on the floor, shards of her golden armor around her that had long since lost the luster matched by her now white coat and flowing pink mane, looked up and gasped.  
"It has been over a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."  
"Sister?!" everypony exclaimed, leaning forwards in anticipation. Babs leaned so far she fell over and watched the rest of this from ground level.  
Yet as if she never heard the six, Princess Luna continued, "Will you accept my friendship?"  
Princess Celestia hesitated for a moment, looking cautiously up into her elder sister's eyes and trying to find that doubt, that anger that should be there, but for some reason it wasn't. It was all her fault, why wasn't her sister angry with her?  
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"  
Babs, apparently very good at thinking on her hooves, or on her face, though she got up in time to bounce into the air as she said, "Hey! I throw most ponies a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party when they come to Ponyville, but I'll have to throw an even huger party, cause this is gonna be a 'Welcome to _Equestria_' party! WHEEEEE!"

And sure enough, as soon as they arrived back, somehow Babs had prepared a (very apple-themed, as all her parties usually were) humungous party for Luna's younger sister's arrival in such a short amount of time. A garland of beautiful, obviously very recently grown, daytime flowers was placed around her neck. Usually the kinds of flowers that were grown in Equestria were nighttime flowers, grown with tending in the twilight hours of dusk and the occasional nighttime rainstorm amidst the hose-watering such flowers were used to drinking. Such flowers often came in the colors of the night: the dark, dark blue of the night sky with stems of the usual shade of green that flowers just seem to adore, small specks of white that resembled the stars adorning each petal. However these flowers were of shades that came with the lack of night, shades of pink, yellow, orange. Day lilies comprised most of this garland necklace, though other flowers were there as well as if proving that similarity was not required for beauty.

"Why so glum, my faithful student?" asked Luna to her prized pupil, placing a gentle hoof under Dinky's chin, "Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"  
"That's just it, Princess. Just when I found out how great it is to have friends, I have to leave them." The Princess thought for a moment. She was proud of her student, she hardly wanted the pony who was probably the most talented unicorn she had ever met to be unhappy. And given her thousand years' wisdom, she devised a plan to fix this.  
"Ganache, take a letter. 'I, Princess Luna, hereby decree that the unicorn Dinky Do shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in… Ponyville!'"  
"Oh, thank you, Princess! I'll study harder than ever before!"

"Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you! Did 'ya like the story? Did ya? Well? Post what you thought of it or if the author (she put bunches and bunches of work into this, ya know!) should do MORE in that review box down there!"

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